Fun activities to promote speaking skills

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My son is "speech delayed" as well. (And many of the weekly newsletters, like the one that led me to this article, make me horrible with their assumption that my child is unequivocally "on schedule" with what he's *supposed* to be doing at this age: "His mastery of speech means he can now clearly express what he wants. That's huge!" Um, no. He can't. It makes me constantly question myself and my parenting skills.)

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that Early Intervention (ages 0-3) and CPSE (ages 3-5) provide speech therapy for anyone "behind" enough, and at least in theory, have no waiting list. It's free, convenient, and kind of fun for them, and even if you don't think your child necessarily *needs* it, it can't hurt!

My little girl was 2 in August and has virtually no vocabulary.I dont think she would benefit from speech therapy intervention at this stage so I am happy to leave her go at her own pace.She understands everything you say to her and can follow a list of instructions however there is no definate speech.She babbles away quite happily and is a happy,healthy little girl.My son was exactly the same was 3 before you could have a conversation with him,and he is perfectly normal and rarely stops talking now! There is way too much pressure for toddlers to conform to milestones and to be pigeon holed into a box if they dont!All babies are different and should be left to develop at their own pace if there is no obvious health issues.

As I read these comments I am relieved to know that I am not the only one here that has a toddler that doesn't talk. My 2 year old barely says 5 words. He can say momma, daddy , juice . We had his hearing checked in February and it was perfect. He understands and follows directions very well (better then my 9 year old! Lol!). My husband and I have our son enrolled into speech therapy but is on a waiting list.

I love the fun ideas and that they are organized by the way they learn. It's so good to be reminded that our children are unique and may not learn the same way we do or even like each other!...and to remember that they each learn at his or her own pace.

I would say that my 3 yr old benifits fm all 3 catergories. As I can see myself doing all 3 when I'm teaching her things n reading to her n what not... But yes i do have a better understanding on the ways I can help my child learn...=)

My 4 year old talks everyone's ears off, but no one can understand him, he talks like an entire sentence is just one word, I have no idea what to do, even I struggle to understand him sometimes. His regular therapist said if he goes to preschool (he was late due to potty training issues) maybe it'll get better

My son loves collecting things when we go out for walks to the park so the nature walk tip is great for him. He also likes to read and will bring me books throughout the day to read to him. I often take him to the library to read too. I sing to him too and I hear him trying to sing when he is on his own playing. He is a pretty quiet child.

My almost 3 yr old talks to me all the time, for the most part I do understand him. Sometimes I have to figure out what it is he's actually trying to say. But that's not my problem, the problem is that he doesn't really talk to anyone else but me, not even his dad!! At school he has had one teacher since he started going and she told me that finally he had opened up, but his other teacher (who he has since Jan) thought he actually didn't talk. How can I motivate him to speak to others, any suggestions??

Dad to Ethan - don't worry about it! Boys especially are individuals & will develop at their own rate. Potty Training and Speaking are 2 areas of development that span over a number of months, and even years. Some kids speak sentences at 10mths, others still are hard to understand at 3y.o. Same with walking, and PTing. Dont sweat it - generally if he is doing well in most milestones, and your Dr doesn't seem concerned, don't worry! Plus, the younger bro has the benefit of watching & learning from the older one - it always makes a positive difference! :)

Oh, Ethan also hasn't got the potty training thing down yet. He tells me when he went so I can change him, which is nice, but it would be nice to have him potty trained too. Again, I'm a single father and he spends most of he's week at daycare. I work 9-10 hours a day Monday thru Friday so he is at daycare from 7-6. They say he does okay there but he doesn't try at all at home. Again, my 1 year old is trying harder than my 3 year old???

My little man Ethan is 2 but will be 3 Nov 1st 2010, which is around the corner. He is the most athletic kid, with balance that rivals professional adults BUT he talks mostly to were I'm the only one that understands him. I'm a single father of two amazing boys and my one year old almost speaks as well as his older brother? Again, nothing seems wrong or off with Ethan, he speaks and listens quite well, but it's understanding him that's difficult. Will this pass or become better soon?

Dear Mom to Paige,Good luck with everything you are doing. Have you gotten your child's ears checked? An Early Childhood and Family Education teacher had asked me if my daughter listened to me and I then realized not very much. She was sent to and audiologist and was found to have water behind her ears (for about 4 1/2 months) which slowed her speech development down. Maybe that is the issue for you. Good luck.

For Sandee- take him to a developmental pediatrician or a neurologist. They are better equipped at handling these kinds of situations. Your son is two...he should definitely be walking and it is irresponsible for your doctor to say nothing is wrong. If there IS something wrong, these are precious minutes that you could be getting him early intervention to gain the skills nhe needs. Good luck to you!!!

I am going through a speech delay with my 35 mo old right now. It was only brought to my attention at 32 mos. I have been a SAHM that has been doing what everyone recommends all along: reading since birth, narrating everyday stuff, etc., but it hasn't worked with my DD. She is extremely good with the physical stuff, so that comes easier to her than the verbal I can see.

What I would like to recommend to everyone, since I have yet to have seen it on this board, is to contact Early Intervention if your child is under 3 yrs old and request a FREE evaluation of your child's development. They can help you and your child get the assistance he/she needs with speech or whatever if they discover he/she is behind in comparison to other kids his/her age. Every state and county has a program for this. In some states the services of a speech therapist are totally free, and others there is a small fee, but MUCH cheaper than a private speech therapist for sure. I didn't even know this was an option for my child, I thought it was only for autistic kids. WRONG!! Everyone that has an even remote chance of being delayed will be checked by licensed experts and by law provided with service if they are 33% behind in any one area or 25% in 2 or more areas. And they will test for any other causes of the delay as well with hearing and vision tests as well. Over 3 yrs, the school district in your town is responsible for the child's development and they will do their own evaluations to help the child's learning be on target. Just Google "early intervention" + your state/county to find the website with contact information.

So I highly recommend this to anyone on this board and I wish I had known about it sooner... we are only able to take advantage of the EI (Early Intervention) program for a few months because my DD will be 3 next month... but then she will go into the school district's program for speech therapy in the Fall, and my taxes pay for it! So I'm so happy that my DD is getting the help she needs and will be able to better express herself soon. It's been frustrating for all of us.

my 25 months old son wont just walk around on his own,he walks round tables and chairs or lean on walls. when you take his hand to try and walk around with him,he gets upset and sits.hes not interested in going outside to play with friends either.he also has a speech delay.his Doctor says theres nothing wrong with him!Please help,i dont know what else to do.

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